Vrindavan – Mathura advice needed

Paleface

The Museum has superb pieces. Mathura was a pre eminent place of sculpture, the first Gupta period carvings of Buddha were from Mathura, amongst other deities that went all over India and the Himalayas. It is not too far from Holi gate, which is a also a spectacularly carved gate in sandstone. Opposite Holi gate is a Mithaiwallah (sweets and things) that is one of the best in the north.. Through the gate, on large flagstones the road goes down to the central Ghats at Sati Burj, that street is lined with some wonderful facades, hiding court yards and Temples of the residence. Peek in, invite yourself in and be welcomed for taking the trouble to look.

As Keshava says Mathura is a busy and bustling, but it does have it's gems. Just that two or 3 days in VVN and Mathura is on the short side. VVN itself is a multidimensional cultural centre of Krishna Bhakti. It's a vast topic, and depending when you are there you may be lucky to observe one of the festivals.

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hfot2

Thanks again, Paleface. You've bolstered our interest in Mathura and pretty much confirmed the route through town we'd doped out, with the excellent addition of the Mithaiwallah.

Now we have to decide whether to stay in Mathura, though. We're looking forward to the Shubham Holidays in VVN, and we're quite sure we'll be very much more comfortable there than at the Agra on the ghats in Mathura. We agree with everyone that it would be great if we could stay in VVN and make day trips to Mathura. But we fear that the two-hour round trip sorta knocks the stuffings out of the day.

Our few days are indeed on the short side. But that's always the case – so much India, so little time! Needs must when the devil drives, we'll have to move on (your Gwalior, your Orchha, your Mahoba, your Chitrakoot...). On this trip we'll be revisting several familiar sites for longer stays. And by all accounts, that will be the case with VVN/Mathura in the future.

delhiwala

Wow ! You are visiting some very little known places, how about Nimsar Misrikh ? An ancient place, mentioned even in old scriptures....

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paratmoshe

[quote=hfot2;792858]Thanks again, Paleface. You've bolstered our interest in Mathura and pretty much confirmed the route through town we'd doped out, with the excellent addition of the Mithaiwallah.

Now we have to decide whether to stay in Mathura, though.


I guess that Agra Hotel will be fine for one night....... It is not great but for one night it is ok.
If I went back to Mathura I would stay there again because of the great location right on the ghat. There you can take a boat-ride along the shore of the Yamuna, which is really lovely.

paratmoshe

I just uploaded two pictures of the Agra Hotel for you.

hfot2

@ dehliwala: Thanks – we're trying to get to know more of India than just the principal tourist sites. Is Nimsar Misrikh in Sitapur district?

@ paratmoshe: Thanks for the photos. In fact we found the pictures before your present reply.

We find the picture of the hotel fairly encouraging – we've stayed in much worse. We're thinking now to transfer from Vrindavan late one afternoon and spend two nights at the Agra, in order to get one full day in Mathura.

Paleface

I can't remember the name of the Mithaiwallah at Holi gate - Another thing on that walk down to the ghats from the Gate is that you will find one or two little shops who create and sell stencils, a nice local craft. Having lived in VVN for quite a few years and still having a remote presence there, i can give you the number of my man Jagannath, who runs our NGO - he is also close to the Shubham family and Jagannath will be a great contact for you, knowing everyone and everything as he does.

Govind Dev Temple is a must - first Temple allowed to be constructed by Akhbar in the North and has interesting synthesis of Islamic & Hindu styles. Buddha from Museum, and Stencil.

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Keshava

I am not sure I understand this part of the post. But if you are going to Chittrakut - let me know. I LOVE Chittrakut and know it well. Very few Westerners go there (Just one of many reasons why I like it) and it's comparatively unspoiled. Eight years ago you couldn't even get bottled water there. There are a few tricky aspects to this sleepy little town. The train going there arrives in the middle of the night and leaves you sort of in the middle of nowhere. Rickshaws will take you into Chittrakut proper and then dump you in the middle of darkened streets where nothing at all is open. Be prepared for this. There are a few places you can stay - but Binod Lodge is the only place - you should stay. The food there is nothing short of totally amazing and the folks who run it are really sweet. MP Paying Guest House - is run by jerks and cheats and has god-awful food. You need to be very careful about booking taxis to any yatra places as the state line runs right through the middle of town - meaning that if you book a car to go to a place they are not legally permitted to travel to - they will take you two hours out of the way on back roads - in order to take you on what should have been a 10 minute, ride without being caught by the authorities. Once you're there - don't take rickshaws to visit yatra places. The roads to the temples etc are really bad. You can get to many places by regular local buses quite easily. Try to give yourself three days there if you can. Very very shanti.

Paleface

Yes - also like it very much this side, again Chitrakoot Dham is one of the most ancient holy pilgrim places of India, and evening Aarti on the ghat is particularly lovely.

delhiwala

You'll see a very different India....Real India in all it's manifestations.....

Right ! It's around 90 Kms. from Lucknow. It's known by it's ancient name Naimisharanya also.

atala

Vrindavan is 12 kms from Mathura, so not time involving to go there. But also not necessary except for the small yet worthwhile museum, as Paleface mentioned.

I agree wholeheartedly with Keshava as to the ugliness and unworthiness of Mathura as a tourist place. It is just the transit-place to Vrindavan for people traveling by train. If you come by car from Delhi, you turn off towards the left before Mathura.

While staying in Vrindavan, instead of focussing on trips to Mathura, look at options to go to other pilgrimage places within Vraja (locally spelled Braj/Brij), like Goverdhan, about 30 kms away, with its hill which is circumambulated in many ways, including sadhus who make 108 dandavats (prostrations) at one spot before moving forward. The holiest place for Vaishnavas there is Radha-Kund near Goverdhan, the place where Krishna had his midday amourous pasttimes (read: sex) with the cowherd girls (nowadays considered under-age). Other places include Barsana with a very nice hill-top temple dedicated to Radharani, the female aspect/paramour (illicit lover) of Krishna. Similarly Nandgaon (Krishna's place) a little further away, but probably too far for you.

One place for consideration just for the curiousness of it, for other readers considering a visit in the Braj area, would be Gokula. That is the supposed place of the childhood pasttimes of Krishna. It is on the other side of the Yamuna, via Mathura, quite a distance to go from Vrindavan. It is a special place because in no other place you get hassled so much by temple pujaris to give a Rupee note here for this puja and a Rupee note there for that blessing. Worse in terms of being almost threatened to give is only Goverdhan where real gundas play the role of pandas = local guides.

Vrindavan town itself is famous for the Rasa lila happening there (in the Krishna reality so to speak, that is in the minds of the worshippers present there). Rasa lila (literally play of emotion) commemorates the story that Krishna, the amourous lover, flute player and dancer meets the gathered cow-herd girls at night one by one, appearing to each one as though only to her.

Nowadays you find rasa-lila performances happening esp in Vrindavana, very popular music and dance events. By the way, most of the ragas so popular in India have the Krishna-lila as a subject. Raga also means "feeling", and that is what is evoked in the heart of connoisseurs hearing the music, while they also understand the details of the lila-scene depicted in the music. The highest of the feelings is seen as the one of Union-In-Separation, where the union and loving embrace is remembered while the pangs of the separation are felt simultaneously.

This is what Vrindavan is about esoterically. Everyone with a deeper interest into the heart of India shoud spend some time in Vrinadavan to explore these dimensions and see how he or she resonates with them. Local temples are full of such themes, especially the ones under care of Bengali vaishnavas who were really the ones which brought Vraja, Vrindavan and the enacted Krishna-lila into prominence. Hence the place is full of Bengali poetry which evokes feelings of what is conceived as divine love in listeners' and visitors' hearts.

malyada

Hi,

I belong to Vrindaban, as in born and brought up there for 25 years, and still have my home there. What most of the people have said is more or less true. Some more insights here - Vrindaban actually has 2 parts to it - the east and the west - and surprisingly they embody that spirit. The eastern part is the quieter, greener less commercial part, and the western part which houses the banke bihari temple and ISKCON is the commercial, crowded hub of the city. The western part is the entry to Vrindaban from the highway which connects to Delhi.
November will be perfect weather to visit the place, so dont bother booking an AC room as most of them stink.
The aarti in vbn happens at Kesi Ghat which is on the eastern part, but I am sure you will be extremely disappointed with the river..its more a 'nullah' these days, dirty, mucky and smelly.
I live on the eastern side (thankfully), and you can visit some wonderful places there, including one called - Tatiya Sthaan - which houses the Samadhi of Swami Haridas - the grand-daddy of Hindustani Classical Music and guru to Mia Tansen, Tulsi Ram Darshan Sthal, where the deity supposely changed from that of Shyam to Ram, as the great poet Tulsidas refused to bow to anybody else other than lord ram. Also remember to visit the Madan Mohan temple, which is the oldest temple in Vrindaban, and a south indian temple dedicated to Aandal called Rangji Mandir- which is the biggest in Northern India. The other major temples are Banke Bihari, Radha Damodar, Radha Raman and Radha Vallabh. You can also visit the Gaudiya Math which was founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
It would be better if you can contact some of the temples there - most of them have dharamshalas and guest houses, and that would be a much better place to stay than in hotels.
Remember to do the Vrindaban Parikrama, its abt 10 kms and will give you a complete ring side view of the town.
The mathura museum though quite neglected is wonderful, and you will get to see some amazing statues from the Kushana kings of the Gandharva dynasty famous for the Gandharva School of Art.
Hope this suffices.

Thanks..

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--malyada..

atala

Welcome to Indiamike, malyada.
That is really good to hear from you as a Brijbasi (resident of Vrindavana). I think it is great that you mention the two parts of Vrindavan and suggest to stay away from the commercial side and instead stay in the old town, as I would suzggest too somewhere in the area of Loi Bazar. If you want to get the real flavour of the place stay there only in some guest-house.

One small correction. Gaudiya Math was not founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but is based on his teachings. It is only about 100 years old, and actually a trasvesty to the goals of Chaitanya. It is an institution with well organized temples which thereby become attractive to Indians, like Iskcon does too, which incidentially is an off-shoot to the Gaudiya Math. But it was really Chaitanya who 500 years ago discovered the places in the Vrindavan area and made it a pilgrimage spot.

You mention some non-Gaudiya attractions(Gaudiya means the Bengali vaishnava bhakti-creed exported upnorth thru Chaitanya and his followers), of which it should be added that the South Indian temple cannot be entered by non-Hindus. A thing which is totally contrary to Bhakti temples where anyone can enter.

As to accomodation in downtown Vrindavan, I fear some of the enquirers here are looking for posh hotel-rooms and are probably less open to the more basic facilities available in old Vrindavan. I generally recommend the guesthouse of Radha-Gopinath behind Radha-Raman, because it is a stand-alone guesthouse, and very quiet, yet right in the center of things.

Which guesthouse do you consider best in that area? Personally I would go and ask Mr. Padmalochan Goswami of Radha Raman if I wanted something better. He rents out a few rooms, including a Studio.

To find Radha-Gopinath Guesthouse:
Place to stay Vrindavan

malyada

Hi atala,

Not sure when you visited Vrindaban last, but the temple is now open to non-hindus as well. It took a long time in coming, but I am glad it finally did happen after a lot of persuasion. The temple is run by a trust, and due to the veto of a single member, it was not open for non-hindus. After the demise of the aforementioned member ( a very learned, erudite man btw), the rule was changed.
The temple also has a guest house, which is available for free to people (including non-hindus) provided they book in advance and if availability is there. As its a trust, it cant accept money for accomodation, but people can make a donation to the temple trust, whatever they find reasonable. The contact details are found on www.srirangjimandir.org
Vrindaban has slowly mushroomed into a fairly busy commercial town which is crowded throughout the year, which is sad really, specially for residents like me.
I will be glad to help someone wanting to visit the place..

SitaParityaga

Welcome to IM, malyada. Wonderful information about Vrindaban, a place I want to visit.

The link Atala made to her other post about a guesthouse in Vrindaban made me want to go there just to stay at this place and meet the people!